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Czech president Petr Pavel: Ukraine war fatigue weakening NATO unity against Russia
In a GZERO Global Stage discussion at the 79th UN General Assembly, Czechia President Peter Pavel highlighted the evolving dynamics within NATO nearly two years after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. He acknowledged that initial unity, which surged in response to the shock of the invasion, has waned as war fatigue sets in.
"I had an impression that some representatives of the countries are a little bit tired by always hearing that we need to support Ukraine, and we need to condemn Russian aggression," he said.
President Pavel emphasized that the conflict transcends regional borders, threatening global principles by challenging the UN Security Council's core values. He stressed the need for continued opposition to Russia's aggression, warning that a victory for Russia could embolden similar regimes to pursue military solutions to achieve their aims.
Pavel spoke during GZERO’s Global Stage livestream, “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft. The Global Stage series convenes heads of state, business leaders, and technology experts from around the world for a critical debate about the geopolitical and technological trends shaping our world. Click here to watch the full conversation.
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Can we use AI to secure the world's digital future?
How do we ensure AI is safe, available to everyone, and enhancing productivity? It’s a big topic at this year’s UN General Assembly. That’s why GZERO’s Global Stage livestream on Tuesday brought together leading experts at the heart of the action for “Live from the United Nations: Securing our Digital Future,” an event produced in partnership between the Complex Risk Analytics Fund, or CRAF’d, and GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft. The conversation was moderated by Folly Bah Thibault, a journalist and senior presenter for Al-Jazeera English.
Securing the future starts by building a strong foundation, and the International Monetary Fund plays a key role in the fight by matching funding to the needs of developing economies. But it goes deeper than that, said Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva. “What we deliver is not just money, it is putting in place strong institutions.
”Those same strong institutions will help build a more peaceful world, said Czech President Petr Pavel — but only if countries can learn to compromise. “If we don’t want to live forever in conflict, we have to finally learn that we have to share this planet.”
In that sense, tackling a lot of the problems the world faces — conflict, inequality, technological disruption — boils down to finding shared values and putting funds where they are most needed. “What is regulation and policy if it is not based on values?” asked Under-Secretary-General for Policy Guy Ryder, adding that good policy, properly funded, would allow “you [to] connect people … and educate them to use the technologies” that could prove transformative.
Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed said AI technology will play a crucial role in helping the world achieve Sustainable Development Goals — most of which are in very rough shape. “It’s not about stopping, it’s about really accelerating” to make good on what can be achieved by 2030.
Eurasia Group and GZERO Media President Ian Bremmer said his work with the UN on developing an international framework for AI has focused on “deploying AI to help up meet the sustainable development goals.”
But safeguards aren’t enough, said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “Guardrails aren’t going to ensure it reaches everybody. Investment will,” he said. Microsoft is the largest investor in OpenAI and has invested in more than 20 AI-related startups.
The US State Department is also working to leverage artificial intelligence in advancing global peace. “We see data as the lens that brings the factors that drive instability into focus,” said Anne Witkowsky, assistant secretary of state for conflict and stabilization operations. That means using AI to bring together the big picture — economics, politics, climate, sociology — to identify hot spots before problems spiral.
Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development Workneh Gebeyehu offered a practical example: “We have a climate center that works for all Africa to predict droughts, floods, and locust storms,” relying on pattern recognition technology. That helps farmers and governments react in real-time, ideally avoiding the worst of the catastrophes.
Live from the United Nations: Securing Our Digital Future
How can technology and artificial intelligence be harnessed to support the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and create a positive impact in the Global South? This question is top of mind for many gathering at the UN's 79th General Assembly in New York.
Our livestream panel discussion, "Live from the United Nations: Securing Our Digital Future" will examine these key issues on Tuesday, September 24 at 5:30 PM ET broadcasting live from inside United Nations headquarters as the first day of high-level General Debate concludes. Produced in collaboration between GZERO Media’s Global Stage series, sponsored by Microsoft, and the UN’s Complex Risk Analytics Fund (CRAF’d), our panel of prominent experts and leaders will explore how multilateral organizations are adapting to the realities of the 21st-century world.
The discussion will be moderated by Folly Bah Thibault, a journalist and senior presenter for Al-Jazeera English, and will feature a distinguished panel including:
- Talal Al Kaissi, Acting Group Chief Global Affairs Officer, G42
- Ian Bremmer, President and Founder, Eurasia Group and GZERO Media
- Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, Executive Secretary, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
- Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director, IMF
- Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations
- Petr Pavel, Czech Republic President
- Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy, Executive Office of the Secretary-General
- Brad Smith, Vice Chair and President, Microsoft
- Anne Witkowsky, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Conflict and Stabilization Operations
Live from the United Nations: Securing Our Digital Future
A mock customs post is set up with protesters from border communities between Ireland and Northern Ireland against Brexit.
What We’re Watching: End of Brexit? No, US-India tech alliance, Czechs checking China
Are the EU and UK close to a post-Brexit deal?
For a fleeting moment, it seemed like Brexit wrangling could finally end. But no. After reports claimed that the EU and UK were close to clinching a deal on trade rules for Northern Ireland, Brussels announced that, despite some progress, several issues remain intractable. (Really sorry you still have to hear about Brexit, but the Northern Ireland Protocol, you might recall, is the arrangement that Boris Johnson reached with the EU to avoid creating a hard border between the Republic of Ireland, an EU member, and Northern Ireland, a part of the UK.) One big sticking point is that Downing Street, along with the pro-UK DUP Party in Northern Ireland, wants to limit the role of the European Court of Justice in overseeing trade-related disputes. Another is the failure to agree on a practical border system that would avoid rigorous checks by customs. With Prime Minister Rishi Sunak facing mounting pressure from Tory Brexiteers not to give an inch to Brussels, we’re watching to see how he navigates a major political test that threatens to further split his Conservative Party.
US and India launch tech alliance aimed at China and Russia
Under an ambitious new project launched this week, India and the US will join forces on a range of advanced technologies like semiconductors, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and new weapons. Washington has been trying to woo India into a partnership like this for years, but Delhi’s long-standing “non-aligned” foreign policy made it tough to get to yes. Now, however, the two democracies’ shared concerns about authoritarian China’s rise seem to have moved things along. US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan described the new project as part of an “overall strategy to put the entire democratic world in the Indo-Pacific in a position of strength.” But the initiative isn’t aimed solely at China. Washington is also keen to displace Russia as one of India’s largest weapons suppliers, which would be both a strategic and economic boon for the US while striking another blow at Russia’s heavily sanctioned economy. India’s military, for its part, may be pretty keen to get access to weapons of higher quality and greater reliability than what they get from Russia.
Czech checks China?
Who picks a fight with an adversary 100 times their size? Petr Pavel, the president-elect of the Czech Republic, has been publicly clashing with China over Taiwan all week after holding a phone call with Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen. China, which hates it when countries engage with Taiwan directly, exploded with hurt, accusing Pavel of “stepping on China’s red line” and trampling “the feelings of the Chinese people.” Pavel — a former top general at NATO who has previously warned that China’s undemocratic values mean it can never be a friend to Prague — shot back that as a sovereign country, the Czechs can speak to whomever they please. Why is Pavel doing this? Well, for one thing, the fiercely pro-EU Pavel is looking to quickly distinguish himself from outgoing president Miloš Zeman, whose coziness with China and Russia raised hackles in Brussels. Ordinary Czechs, for their part, are none too fond of those two countries either. Could Pavel pay a price? China often cuts commercial or diplomatic ties with countries that treat Taiwan as an equal. But the Czech-Chinese commercial relationship is minuscule, and Beijing’s vague promises of investment have mostly come to nothing. Still, a country of 10 million poking a billion-person behemoth is no small gamble – President Pavel better be sure the EU has his back.